MOTHER’S DAY, CORONAVIRUS EDITION: A NEW KIND OF “SELF-CARE”

As Mother’s Day approaches, this year feels different. In a time of coronavirus, we need more than flowers and a day off. We need more than traditional self-care. We need recognition, deep and lasting recognition, that the work we do as caregivers is invaluable. We need recognition from society as a whole, not just our families. The pandemic has shown everyone that we are essential – women make up over half of the workforce deemed “essential,” including 77% of healthcare workers. Our lives are on the line as front-line healthcare workers: the CDC reports that 73% of healthcare workers who have contracted coronavirus are women. On top of all of this, our stress is through the roof with the roles we play at home: women were already making 80% of the healthcare decisions in families, and now, as at-home caregivers, we are juggling even more, with home-schooling added to our paying jobs.

For more on how we can come together to demand a deep and lasting recognition, check out my blog post featured on MomsRising here!